Fall Harvest

The trivia question for ten cents off your coffee order was “In which vitamin is salmon most rich?” I knew salmon dripped with omega-3s but those are fatty acids, not vitamins, and I was at a loss for a guess. “Vitamin D!” The barista practically shouted, excited to reveal the answer.

As I sipped my full-priced Americano, though, I realized that really was worth shouting about. Nutritionists say most Alaskans are low in vitamin D. The sun sits low in the sky and diminishes it’s presence over the winter, reducing our bodies’ ability to produce it. Many Alaskans take supplements, especially women who tend to be the more D-deficient of the two sexes. How wonderful, I thought, nature provides the supplement in the rivers. Salmon, who have completed their life cycle and are returning to their spawning grounds give back one final gift, the vitamin that the people living in its lands need most.

Fall harvest is a celebration of the that magically perfect system—not just in Alaska but all over the world. We didn’t create it, but what we have done within it is a true testament to human ability and creativity. Regional cuisines are born from that relationship, for instance. In an age of supermarkets, technology, and GMOs, people are working harder than ever to provide for their families yet they are less tied to the process of obtaining that food. The connection from living thing to plate is lost. In a sense, even my Americano was indicative of this.

But the Professional Nomads community proves through these collages that people still make a deliberate choice to be involved. People still fish to provide food for a wedding. Adults share the rewards of growing and harvesting food with kids.  Maybe fewer people are tilling the land but more of them are starting roof top gardens or simply growing alfalfa sprouts in a jar. These collages represent that living connection that still exists today, and is also an invitation to challenge yourself to grow, gather, or hunt something new this year. What can you provide for yourself and your family?

 

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Look inside! Expand each collage by clicking below:

Community submission collage

Anja’s greenhouse by Anja Phenix

Fall harvest at the County Fair by Dennis Olmstead

Empowering Children through Gardening by Karen Fortier

For more, check out community participation on Instagram!

 

 

Related: Call for Submissions: Fall Harvest

 

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